Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. If I did… xD
"Shattered Innocence" is rated "T" for disturbing and graphic images.

Shattered Innocence
A Legend of Zelda Fanfiction

If only she knew then what she knew now.

Zelda gasped, forcing her tired eyes awake and repressing a scream. She shivered, her whole body soaked in cold sweat, rubbing the horrible mental image out of her mind. She tried so desperately to erase the image of a mangled child's body.

The nightmare was over now. It had to be. After all, nightmares ended when you woke up. Zelda glanced side to side, collapsing to the ground in emotional turmoil as she realized that she hadn't awakened from her nightmare just yet. This was simply another phase.

Hyrule appeared to be pitch black and moonless, the stars refusing to shine. Zelda found herself on the banks of Lake Hylia, the normally clear water stained a deep crimson. She glanced up at an eerily celestial figure hovering over the entrance to the Water Temple.

"You were naïve."

It wasn't a question. Zelda bit her lip, forcing herself to swallow the bile that was threatening down her throat as she waded into the crimson water. She visibly shook as she felt bodiless souls attempt to grab her body, her ears nearly bleeding from their endless shrieks of misery. As she stopped waist deep, unable to continue further, she clutched her quavering body, forcing herself to look up at the godly being.

"I know," Zelda whispered. What else could she say? What else could she do to atone for her stupidity that caused her entire country to suffer?

The being, golden in color with long, wavy blue hair and fiery eyes, floated over to the princess, staring straight into her soul. Zelda felt the outsider tug and prod at the princesses' innermost desires, thoughts, and cares.

"You thought you singlehandedly could defeat the foe. And now, he is the one who is paying the price."

The being thrust her arm into Zelda's heart, forcing the princess to witness a vision, a vision she was plagued with every night and one that would continue to haunt her for eternity.

Before her, trapped in the deep red pool of darkness, a young boy, not even a decade old, screamed and tried to stay afloat as monsters tugged at his feet. As the shadows pulled harder and harder at the youth, he aged before Zelda's eyes, his screams becoming deeper as his skin was pulled from his body, leaving only seared, mangled flesh. Zelda gave a cry of her own, throwing herself deeper into the water, still reaching for the disfigured child's hand until he was nothing more than a pile of broken bones. As he became nothing, his screams still echoing throughout the land, Zelda collapsed into the water, her pink dress turning crimson. She didn't try to swim. She didn't try to float. She let the bodiless souls drag her down to the depth of nothingness.

"What will you do, Princess of Hyrule?"

Zelda jerked awake, body covered in a sheen of sweat as she gasped, coughing and crying deliriously, believing she was transported to yet another awful nightmare. She collapsed onto the floor, clutching her chest and crying, crying harder than she ever had in her sixteen years of life. As her sobs finally began to quiet, she leaned back against the hard wooden frame of her bed, closing her eyes. After a moment, she steadied herself, observing the familiar look of her tiny room and listening to the comforting sounds of the town outside. She was back in reality.

It wasn't the first time the Princess of Hyrule had been plagued by nightmares, but this one was different. This was the first time she saw him. He was a child, a youth who had his innocence shattered and taken from him. Although he said nothing and never protested, Zelda could only imagine the pain he felt. The burden that lay on his shoulders was too heavy for one person—let alone a child of all people—to bear. Yes, true, he aged with time, but he only physically aged…mentally, he was asleep for seven years. His body may be that of a teenager, but his mind was still that of a child's.

After Zelda realized her foolish mistake and that she led Ganondorf right to the Triforce, she vowed she wouldn't be one of those helpless damsels in distress that did nothing. This was her mess, and she was going to clean it up. She glanced down at the glowing mark of the Triforce on her hand, massaging it tenderly. With a deep breath, she remembered her resolve and allowed herself to transform. Saving Hyrule may be the hero's destiny, but that didn't mean she couldn't help him along the way.

She had to find him.

She usually kept him under pretty close watch, but for his own safety, she often left him alone when he was traveling in the temples. She could always sense his achievements and would return to him afterwards. So far, the boy—although they were now technically the same age, she couldn't see him as anything more than a boy—made a decisive victory over Ganondorf's shadow, but he faced a tougher task ahead… fiery beast, the dragon Volvagia.

Zelda, disguised as the Sheikah named Sheik, glanced up at Death Mountain, discouraged to see the fiery ring still encompassing the mountain's peak. He should have faced the dragon already.

Zelda felt a sinking feeling in her heart.

Did he…lose?

"…and now, he is the one paying the price."

Zelda chewed her lip, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall. The specter's words from last night echoed again and again through her mind, as the princess desperately jumped right into Death Mountain's crater, using her agility to nimbly leap from solid rock to rock. She couldn't see him anywhere, and yet, she sensed him.

Where is he? Where did he go? Is he hurt? Is he…

…is he dead?

Zelda forced her way into the Fire Temple, shooting down the fire bats with her arrows and searching the temple from room to room. There was no sign of him anywhere. There were signs he'd been there and that he'd free the Gorons, but other than that, nothing. She was about to enter the room where Volvagia lurked but the evil dragon's presence was just so menacing that even she didn't dare enter.

As she fled, heart racing from the sight of the dragon's might, she internally cursed at herself. What if he was there? What if he needed her help? Was she or wasn't she a coward? But yet, something, she didn't know if it was her cowardice speaking or something else, something told her that he wasn't there.

She gasped, the nightmarish sweat returning, as she collapsed against the side of the mountain's wall and closed her eyes. As she closed her eyes, all she saw was the mental image of his body dissipating into nothing. She forced her eyes open, eyes bloodshot from the haze and her emotions. Gasping partially from the smog and her emotions, she finally let out a desperate wail.

"LINK!"

His name bounced off the corners of the crater, hollow from no reply. Zelda grit her teeth, gearing herself up to face that damn dragon and pull Link's remains from its stomach if she had to when she heard something—a weak, muted cry. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Link?" She asked desperately, forgetting for a moment that she was Sheik, not Zelda at the moment. She jumped down to a small platform, eyes darting from side to side when she noticed a figure draped over the side of an adjacent platform. How...how did she not notice him before?

"Link?" She whispered quietly, making her way over to the limp figure. With limbs shaking like Like-Likes, she gently knelt beside the battered hero. It was Link, all right. Only Link would have the will to survive such horrible injuries.

Her heart may have known it was Link, but he was unrecognizable to the eye. There were only bits and pieces of burnt fabric stuck in his few wisps of remaining blond hair. She nearly gagged from the scent of seared flesh, his entire body shades of shiny red, charcoal, black, or blue. His extremities were burnt straight off, only parts of bone remaining. The only reason he still clung to a hope of life was his Goron Tunic, which somehow magically prevented his torso from being disintegrated.

Zelda didn't even try to stop the tears that fell, grabbing the bandages she always kept with her and gently began wrapping Link's injuries, telling him over and over again in an panicked, hushed voice that he was going to be okay, although she knew it would be a miracle if he lived another hour. One of Link's eyes was forced close due to the burn scaring, although one, although devoid of its beautiful, serene blue, remained open, was filled with tears stained by blood.

"It's okay," Zelda whispered again, although she knew it was futile. "You'll be okay. Just…just hold on."

She didn't know how he got to be so burned nor did she want to know, taking burn salve and coating his body without, grimacing at the sounds of his weak cries.

"Sheik?" Link gasped out. Zelda was amazed how he could even say anything coherent. She attempted to shush him, but he moved away as best as he could, so determined that Zelda decided to listen to what he had to say.

"What is it, Link?" She asked softly, continuing to bandage his extremities and applying burn salve.

"I'm sorry," he croaked out, voice strained from the pain, damage, and his cries. Zelda forced herself to look at him, to stare at him, to take in what she'd done. He was sorry? What was he sorry for? For trying his best? It was her mistake. She should be the one dying, not him.

"No," she said, not trying to disguise her voice. That didn't matter in the moment. She wanted Link to know it was her, to let him know that she was by his side. "It's okay, Link. You did everything you could. You were great. You fought so well."

"I failed," he continued, his shattered body wracked with sobs. "I couldn't do it. I failed. I failed Hyrule, I failed Zelda, I failed everyone. I'm so sorry, Sheik. Can you…can you tell Zelda sorry for me?" His sobs turned into coughing which quickly turning into retching, blood spewing from his mouth and staining the stone of the platform they laid on. Zelda could tell he was taking his last breaths. Her desperate cries for him to hang on fell on deaf ears, his cries quieting and as his body stopped shaking. Despite the heat the resonated from his burns, he felt cold.

"Link," Zelda sobbed, throwing her body over his and cradling him in her arms. "This is my fault. I sent you on this mission. I doomed you. If anyone is supposed to die, it's me."

"What will you do, Princess of Hyrule?"

Laying Link's remains down on the platform, Zelda held her hand up, activating her power as the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom and returning to her normal, princess form. Hand still ablaze with pure power, she focused on the broken youth in front of her.

"I will save him."

So uh…that turned out a lot darker than I originally intended. xD I was re-reading "The Science of Payback" and remembered how Link said something about him failing once, and I wanted to do a fic on it. Originally, it was supposed to be pretty lighthearted, but when a story starts going in one direction, I kinda just let it happen. Don't be surprised if you see another fic like this with a lighter tone in the near future. xD

Please leave a review and I hope you enjoyed the story!